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Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Favorite Nail Polishes for Summer

If you know me then you know I always have my nails painted. I rarely get them done at the nail salon, most often it's a good old fashioned self paint job. I actually enjoy and get a lot of satisfaction out of painting my own nails but I will go in and let the professionals do their thang. I'm not really good about working the cuticles and all that jazz; especially on the toenails. Anywho, I love to change my nail color regularly and I thought I would share some of my recent favorite shades. 


Nicole OPI Oh That's Just Grape!

I LOVE this color. I think it's my favorite. It's almost a neon pink and it's just so bright and happy! Every time I look at my nails when I'm wearing this shade it just brings my mood up.


This shade is very much on the orange side and was an unusual pick for me but I love it. When I need a little pop of sunshine I will pick this shade. 


This is a pretty classic shade. It's a pinkish white color. You definitely need to do two layers or it will be too opaque. I'm currently wearing this shade and going on two 3 days with no chips which is a huge plus!


I love how nail polish shades change with the season much like our clothing. I also love how inexpensive and temporary it is! I can change my color whenever I want to whatever color I want, SO FUN. This post was fun, I think I'll do another one soon!



Tuesday, June 6, 2017

What I'm Reading...

I'm an avid reader, I'll read anything and I don't prefer a specific genre. I do like to know what other people are reading to get ideas and I feel like if I know so and so enjoyed a book then I probably will too. Sometimes though, I'll walk out on a limb and grab some random books from the library based on what I read on the inside sleeve which usually works out pretty well for me as I'm not too hard to please.

I just finished The Light of Paris by Eleanor Brown. The main character Madeleine ends up visiting her mom with whom she has a strained relationship to escape from her controlling husband and unhappy marriage. When she arrives she finds out her mother is preparing to sell her home in order to downsize. While there Madeleine happens upon her grandmother's journals in the attic and makes some surprising discoveries about her life. The chapters in the book go back and forth between Madeleine's current life/struggles and her grandmother's brief few months in Paris in the 1920's before she returned to America. I loved the switching back and forth between time periods because it was literally two stories in one and felt almost like time travel.



I'm currently reading Once Upon A River by Bonnie Jo Campbell. This is one of those random books I grabbed off the shelf at the Library the other day. Margo a teen girl, who has grown up living on a river in Michigan in the 1970s, is a quiet outdoorsy type who likens herself to Annie Oakley which fuels her interest in guns and hunting. After an unfortunate chain of events accompanied with bad decisions she has to struggle to survive on her own as she sets out down the river to find her mother. Some parts of the book are disheartening and make you feel for the girl, want to take her and be her mom yourself. That's all I'm going to say as I don't want to give too much away. Apparently there is a book before this one that would shed more light on her mother's story called Q Road. Maybe I'll read it after I finish this one.


I purchased the next two books from the "Friends of the Library" book sale to bring along on our upcoming beach trip. I may not get to both of them since I'll be wrangling two little boys on the beach all week but I'm hoping I can sneak in some reading time! 



Have you read any of the books I mentioned? What books are you reading? Let me know as I'd love recommendations! I'm open to nonfiction as well. 

Happy reading!
Mandy

Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Kick off to Summer 2017

School is out for Summer! 
Yesterday was our first official day of Summer break and we've already been to the pool twice. I don't know how the kids stand it, the water is still freezing cold. You won't catch me jumping in just yet. I can't believe the school year has come to an end, it feels like it just began.

Noah's first & last day of 1st grade.

     Noah had a great school year. He loved his teacher this year. You could tell she really loved her students and poured a lot into them. She e-mailed in the middle of the year and encouraged us to sign Noah up for the Trike theater (a local children's theater program) or at least creative writing at the library because he is so animated even when it comes to his writing. Turns out Noah has quite the sense of humor! This year he is going to attend a new school (new to him) that focuses more on the arts along with regular subjects. When we told his teacher she was sad that she wouldn't see him at school anymore but extremely happy about our decision as it will be a perfect fit for him! Noah loves math, reading non-fiction books, playing mine craft, playing with his buddies, and playing baseball.


Henry's first and last day of PreK 3's

     Henry, as you can see from the photo on the left, was not a fan of school at the beginning. He really really really didn't want to go! He attended school Tuesdays and Thursdays this year and made it known each morning how much he didn't want to go to school. Poor little fella cried every time at drop off; however, I know he loved his teacher and his time at school because every time I picked him up he was all smiles and always had a great day. He was so happy on his last day knowing that he was about to spend an entire summer break away from school at home with mommy and Noah. Henry loves hanging with his big brother and playing Minecraft, Lightening McQueen, Wonder Woman and the rest of the super heroes, riding his glider bike and battery operated gator. We discovered recently he also has an affinity for baseball. 



Happy Summer everyone!

-Mandy



Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Back after 5 years of radio silence!

I'm back and I'm pretty sure the last time I posted anything was in 2012. Yep I'm positive the post below this one is dated as such. Why am I back? I don't really know! Boredom? Maybe! Because as a SAHM you always need one more thing to do, am I right? For some reason it's never enough to be pregnant as well as taking care of two little boys, hauling them to school/baseball practice and on top of that starting college classes this summer. Why not lather more to do's on the already growing list? Right? I don't know what's wrong with me! I'm just in the mood to do more More MORE! I think I may be in a nesting crisis in the midst of it all. So far it's all a party, a do-see-doh (sp?) if you will. On a side note, why am I only able to start sentences with prepositions right now, is this a symptom of pregnancy?

Anyhow exciting things are coming this year and I can't wait! While I'm still trying to decide what this blog will narrow down and focus on I'm thinking most likely motherhood (duh), art projects I'm working on, what books I'm reading, and fashion/beauty. I may not be the fanciest of ladies but I am interested in all the beauty hoopla. I'm trying to embrace my status as Queen in a household where I'm overrun by testosterone (in case you were wondering we're 90% positive the new kid is also a boy) and become even more of a lady.

Well, that's all for today so I'll leave you with some fun pictures!

The new Estes bundle (due November 1st)

The kid I had since the last time I posted. 
His name is Henry, he's 4! My baby?! 
He's getting too big.

Both of my minions: Noah (7) Henry (4)


Until next time! Hope you all have a fab weekend!
xoxo
-Mandy